The Pajama Chef

Mango Quick Cake Squares

June 21, 2013June 21, 2013 Sarah

Classic 1980s family recipe right here. These buttery, thin, quick cake squares were one of the desserts of my childhood. And my high school graduation party too, back in the day… 10 years ago. Yikes. On that note, we need a recipe like this to celebrate the first day of summer. And Mango Quick Cake Squares are just the thing! Soft and fruity cake that couldn’t be simpler to make.

This easy cake, like Monday’s Thai Tofu Ramen, has gotten a bit more sophisticated over the past ten years. Me too? One can only hope. The original Quick Cakes Squares starred classic ingredients like store-bought cherry pie filling and margarine, but when I needed a quick dessert to take to dinner at some friends’, I had to improvise. Use what I had. Remix the recipe, if you will. By using butter and mangoes. Because who store-bought cherry pie filling in their pantry? Though it is delicious….

These quick cake squares are a taste of the tropics in yellow cake form. Though I’ve never had a mango pie, I think I need to make one now because my mango ‘pie’ filling is super addicting, and incredibly simple. Just mangoes, coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. That’s it! Seriously good. And easy too! Just the way I like it, haha.

Anyways, these Mango Quick Cake Squares have minimal ingredients, take little effort, and are made in a jelly roll pan so they are great for a barbecue or a crowd. The cake batter might not look like enough to spread in the pan, but just work at it [and don’t lick the spoon prematurely] and it should spread out enough. Also, be sure to dot the pie filling on before baking. I like to use a rubber spatula to section off the batter in the pan to dot in the filling, but you can also eyeball it. I hope you’ll try these yummy cake squares–whether you choose to use mangos or cherries, you can’t go wrong! Enjoy! 🙂

Mango Quick Cake Squares [from Mom]
click to print

Ingredients:

for mango filling

2 tablespoons coconut milk [could sub regular milk or water]
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 mangoes, peeled and diced

for cake

1 cup butter, softened [or margarine]
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, then stir in mangoes. Set aside.

With a hand or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Next add eggs, beating well, and mix in flour and lemon juice. Spread in a jelly roll pan [12.5×17.5×1 inch].

Section off into 24 squares gently with a rubber spatula, then dot each square with a small spoonful of mango filling. Bake for 28-30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely in the pan before cutting. Enjoy!

Time: 40 minutes.

Yield: 24 servings.

Notes: Also awesome with other prepared pie filling, storebought or not, like cherry. A classic taste of my childhood.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck.

Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups, Tofu

Thai Tofu Ramen

June 17, 2013June 16, 2013 Sarah

So, last month I had a Rachael Ray Magazine recipe on my weekly menu plan. I was all excited to make Tofu Ramen Soup with Spinach, but then I saw that Hannah had made that very soup recently… and thought it was basically a flop. A good idea as a nod towards a healthified college classic, but a flop nonetheless. Good thing I found this out before I made it. Thanks to Hannah, I can present you with this amazing Thai-inspired Tofu Ramen.

Each noodle-y slurp of this spicy, garlicky, gingery broth took me back to my sophomore year of college when, sick of dorm food, I enjoyed a steady rotation of ramen, easy mac, and oatmeal for lazy dinners or weekend meals. Prepared in the microwave, of course. Fortunately, this ramen has grown up and gotten much healthier, but still delivers in terms of ease, taste, and comfort. Instead of just a salty bowl of meat-flavored noodles with a few dehydrated vegetables thrown in, this ramen has tons of personality–chunks of carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Spinach! Cilantro! Tofu! A little coconut milk to add a bit of creamy sweetness and balance out the spice… and ta da! You have an easy, flavorful soup that is darn near perfect comfort food.

Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, including the scary fish sauce. This soup certainly comes together quickly and the fish sauce? Well, all I can say is a little goes a long way. Just stir it in quickly and ignore the smell, because you’ll love the taste! All the flavors go so well together, and definitely improve over time, so leftovers will be really coveted. At least they were here! Enjoy!

Thai Tofu Ramen [adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine]
click to print

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 ounce freshly grated ginger
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 cups low-sodium chicken broth [or vegetable broth]
3/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, minced
1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced and cleaned
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 pound tofu, drained, pressed, and cubed
4 ounces fresh spinach
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1 bunch scallions, minced
3 packages ramen noodles [uncooked, broken, noodles only]
3/4 cup lite coconut milk

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium pot set over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper and saute for 1 minute until fragrant. Add chicken broth, carrots, celery, mushrooms, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

Next, stir in tofu, spinach, cilantro, scallions, and ramen. Cover again and simmer 3-5 minutes until noodles are tender. Reduce heat to low and gently stir in coconut milk. Simmer for another minute or so until hot, then season with additional crushed red pepper or coconut milk as desired.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Menu Plans

Menu Plan

June 16, 2013 Sarah

Week of June 17

Monday: mango fried rice w/ tofu – didn’t make last week
Tuesday: mac & cheese by Ben [OTT style? we shall see!]
Wednesday: sweet & sour chicken – didn’t make last week
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: out to eat
Saturday: dinner at a baseball game for Ben’s 10 year HS reunion – cray cray
Sunday: breakfast for dinner

I don’t know what happened to my menu from last week, but I do know that practically nothing I planned I made, save an amazing tex-mex chicken salad with not just one, but two [relatively healthy] salad dressings–a creamy buttermilk dressing made with greek yogurt and a hot chile vineagrette. I had no less than 4 of these salads in 5 days. Yes, so good! So this week is alot of repeats so as to not waste food. 🙂

Cakes, Desserts, Recipes

Double Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

June 14, 2013June 14, 2013 Sarah

So, not only do I have a working laptop again [yay! even though things weren’t so hard work-wise because I had a wonderful loaner laptop from some generous church friends], I also got my act together enough to share this amazing recipe I found for DOUBLE CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES! And on the most amazing day, too.

Why the shouting? Well, because chocolate and strawberry are things to shout about, duh. And because today, June 14th, is National Strawberry Shortcake Day [side note: I never know food holidays. So I’m psyched about this. Really psyched!]. But it’s also Flag Day, which leads me to the most important thing about today… it’s my grandparents’ 70th wedding anniversary. 70! Seven zero. Seventy. Years. Oh my goooooodness. That takes the cake today, right? Not buttery, chocolatey, shortcake that is just full of about a bazillion layers [even though it’s tasty]. Can you even believe it? This is one of my favorite pictures of them, dancing the ever-so-cheesy-yet-hopelessly-sentimental anniversary dance at our wedding. They won, even though at that point they had *only* been married for 66 years. Only. What an example, huh?

You don’t see commitment and longevity to marriage and relationships like this everyday, and my family is so blessed and thankful for their example. These Double Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes are definitely something to celebrate with–whether it’s a regular Tuesday night [like it was when I made these for our small group this week], National Strawberry Shortcake Day, or your grandparents’ 70th wedding anniversary, these are the perfect treat.

Chocolate and strawberry are a timeless match made in heaven [just like my grandparents] and I think you should definitely make these! And oh, if you do–don’t skimp on the good stuff: use quality dark chocolate, and make your own whipped cream. It’s ridiculously easy and so much better than anything out of a can. Trust me. I wish I lived close enough to my grandparents to make this for dessert for them tonight, but this blog post will have to suffice. I’ll email it to them later today [my grandpa is super tech savvy :)] so maybe you can do me a favor and leave ’em some anniversary love too? 🙂 Happy Anniversary, G&GY! Love you!

Double Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes [from Lauren’s Latest]

click to print

Ingredients:

for the shortcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 ounce dark chocolate, cut into small pieces

for the whipped cream

1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
2-4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cornstarch

for the strawberries

1 pound strawberries, washed and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking sheets with cooking spray or line with silpats or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and cocoa powder, then cut in butter with two knifes or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and chocolate, then spoon out onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating halfway through, watching closely to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from baking sheets immediately to cooling rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare whipped cream and strawberries.

To make whipped cream, add whipping cream, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch to stand mixer and whip on high until firm peaks form. [Cover mixer with a kitchen towel to prevent splatters.] Refrigerate until serving.

For strawberries, mix together berries and sugar. Sugar isn’t necessary but it will make a yummy syrup!

To serve, top cooled chocolate shortcakes with a generous amount of whipped cream and strawberries. Enjoy!

Time: 30 minutes + time to cool.

Yield: 8 servings.

P.S. If you wanna trust me on another important strawberry and chocolate matter, be sure to order a Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Blizzard next time you’re at Dairy Queen. It’s one of those off the menu recipes, circa early 2000s, but most stores know how to make it. It is so good.

Linked up with Weekend Potluck.

10 Minute Lunches, Couscous, Recipes, Sides

10 Minute Lunch #6: Italian Chicken & Veggie Couscous Bowls

June 11, 2013 Sarah

Eeeek! It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a 10 Minute Lunch, eh? Whoops. I’ve been eating a lot of leftovers for lunch on days I work from home, or have been snacking my way through the day, which is not a good idea because then I’m hungry for dinner at 3 pm. Ahem. #seniorcitizeninthemaking

But not anymore! I’m bound and determined to let this month be the month I get my lunch act together and actually eat a real meal for lunch everyday–not just on days that I’m on campus at work. Starting with this little number! 🙂 It’s totally simple, flavorful, and fast–perfect for the days that you have to deal with crazy computer drama with no time to cook. As I said yesterday, my MacBook has been acting up–not charging, randomly shutting off, resetting the date, etc. So now it’s back at the shop for the second time in a week, and thanks to my dramatic Facebook post, I had not one, but three offers of a loaner laptop until mine can be fixed or replaced. I have some generous friends, what can I say? 🙂

But laptop woes [and lunch breaks spent writing blog posts] aside, these couscous bowls are incredible! Quinoa is so popular and rice is so common that couscous [at least in my house] becomes the forgotten grain. You can bet I won’t forget it anymore! It is super fast to prepare and is so light and filling. Once you mix up the couscous, veggies, and chicken, just add a fresh Italian dressing to your bowl for instant flavor–minus the work of measuring and dicing herbs. Perfect! I can totally see so many variations–instead of chicken, beans! Instead of frozen veggies, a chopped tomato! Instead of Italian dressing, Caesar! I could keep going, but I gotta get back to w-o-r-k. What would you add? Enjoy!

Italian Chicken & Veggie Couscous Bowls
click to print

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 mini sweet peppers, finely diced [or ~ 1 cup diced bell peppers]
~ 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
~ 1 cup frozen vegetables
freshly ground black pepper
garlic powder [could substitute 1 clove minced garlic]
2 green onions, diced
large handful arugula, chopped [other light salad greens like spinach would also work]
Italian dressing–we are obsessed with this recipe from Macaroni and Cheesecake

Directions:

In a small pot, bring water and butter to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in couscous, and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the chicken and vegetables.

Heat olive oil in a small saute pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add peppers, chicken, and frozen vegetables, then season with pepper and garlic to taste. Saute for a minute, then cover and let cook for 2-3 minutes to heat everything up.

Next, add green onions to the chicken and vegetable mixture.

To serve, divide the couscous between two bowls, then top each with half of the chicken and vegetable mixture. Stir in green onions and arugula, then top with a drizzle of Italian dressing to taste. Enjoy!

Time: 10 minutes.

Yield: 2 delicious lunches!

Notes: To take this lunch to go, I’d recommend keeping the green onions and arugula separate and stirring them in immediately before eating and after heating it up. The dressing would be fine mixed in already, though!